WORKERS have been urged to add their voice to a campaign for an extra bank holiday to bring Britain closer to the average in other European countries.
The TUC said the average number of public holidays in the European Union was now 11, three more than in Britain.
All ten countries which joined the EU in May have more public holidays than Britain, with Cyprus topping the list with 16 public holidays a year - twice as many as those enjoyed by workers here.
A third of full-time employees work at least one bank holiday, according to research for the TUC.
Bank holidays were first introduced in this country in 1871, with four in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and five in Scotland.
The TUC is suggesting a number of possible extra bank holidays, including one in the autumn school term in the middle of the "long gloomy stretch" between the summer and Christmas. Other ideas included New Year's Eve or the national saints' days of England, Scotland and Wales.
Workers are being urged to vote in the poll by contacting the TUC's world of work website, www.worksmart.org.uk/holiday
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